My 4th grade daughter is presenting her ancestry project at school today. She chose my wife’s mother as her relative to research. Her maiden name is Wicks, and her ancestry goes back to Ireland. We found the Wicks family crest with its family motto Cari Deo Nihilo Carent that means “Those dear to God want nothing.” As I work on arranging centuries old music for the album A Thousand Years, it is intriguing that centuries old family mottoes were expressions of faith in God. God as Creator and Father, and Jesus as Savior and Lord were absolutes – a beautiful testimony of living by faith. The Wicks family motto reminds me of the 23rd Psalm’s beginning, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.”

Joy is not natural for me because I spent many years taking life too seriously. I viewed life as a problem to solve, but now see life as an adventure to live (inspired by John Eldredge). Just yesterday, I finished composing a new piece that combines joyful original melodies with Beethoven’s classic hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee. I may title it Vive La Joye, which means “Joy Forever.” Psalm 16:11 speaks to this, “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Another new piece presents my arrangement of the Doxology – “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” – with an original section inspired by Psalm 30:5, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” Maybe greater joy is possible after all!

Liner notes for Tears of Lament from The Voice CD. For some time I have anticipated musically exploring the times of sadness and mourning that life brings . . . these moments are often hard to understand. I always think about how much greater the suffering and pain is for so many people in the world versus my own. As I looked back on these experiences in my life this music met me in those places, and played a small part in the healing process of finding hope for the future. “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy . . . my eyes overflow with tears. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.” (Psalm 126:5; Lamentations 1:16, 3:22-23; Psalm 116:8)